Cole : We’ve had a lot of new dancewear companies in the last year or so just pop up and I am all for competition. There is a big enough market out there for everyone to have their slice, but what really aggravates me is when they just copy. I feel like saying to them “What are you bringing to the table?” But, it pushes me to constantly come up with new ideas. Daks : So, you are actually designing it all yourself. Do you have a design background or is it something that you really felt strongly that you wanted to do? Cole : When I was at school I loved art, loved design, loved fashion, but got taken down a different route. My stepfather owns one of the biggest accountancy firms and he pushed me down the accountancy route because “You’ll always have a job!” It was something that I had no passion for, but it’s earned me a very good living. I was saying to my husband, “I can’t find any decent dancewear for Eden and I’ve got so many good
ideas.” And he said, “why don’t you have a few bits made for her then?” So, that’s how it all started. Then we made a little website to sell it because everyone kept commenting on how nice it was. It started off as a hobby and it just exploded. Then, before I knew it, I had a big website and it was taking up more and more of my time. But I just love it. The passion is still there; I love designing stuff. Daks : SIs it an international brand now? Are you are selling worldwide? Cole : Yes, we send internationally and I have got stockists in America, in Australia, and across Europe. Today we just launched the first collection that Eden designed herself. Daks : That’s brilliant! How old is she now? Cole : She’s 12. A month ago she came home from school and she showed me these drawings of leotards that she had designed, and they were so good I said, “I’m going to get samples of these made up.”
They came back and they looked amazing, so I said, “Right! It’s your collection, so you can arrange the location for the shoot. You deal with the photographer. I don’t want to take away from you. It’s your vision.” They shot it on the weekend and it launched today and already half of the stock has sold. Daks : That’s so cool, an entrepreneur at 12. You’ll be able to retire soon. Cole : That’s what I said. She’ll be able to take over now! Daks : So moving along, where do you get your fabrics from? You design them and then have the fabrics made? Cole : The first collections that I ever did were called the Paradise and Tropical collections. I designed the fabrics because I couldn’t find what I wanted. I wanted this Hibiscus flower, so we had that design printed, but it was very expensive. I realized it wasn’t the way forward. So, now I spend most of my life sourcing fabric.
I am always looking for inspiration. I saw this pair of Jimmy Choo shoes a few years ago and I just loved the design so much I used them as inspiration for a leotard. Daks : It makes your work original because it has your personality put into it. Anything in life, you want to put your own stamp on it, so it feels like it’s your own. Cole : Yes, I agree. Daks : So, I am assuming you have to find stretchy fabrics like Lycra? Cole : Yes, it has to be Lycra or a fabric with a four-way stretch. I have one company that produces it, but now a lot of the competitors have realized who they are. So I don’t like to use them too much. I went to Las Vegas to the fabric fair but it’s so expensive to bring it in. My factory is in the UK and I like the fact that everything is made here. But in terms of cost, it’s expensive.
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